rescue dog hates men help?

[pumkinnoodle]

I'm a long time ACD and Aussie owner, but have just recently rescued a BC/ heeler X from a local shelter. She's approx 2 yrs and is fearful of men, I don't know her previous life story, though it's obvious she has'nt been socialized much. She is great with women, yet she thinks all men are bad...does anyone have any ideas on what I should do to get her over this? She's not at all agressive, she just panics when a man ges within 5 feet of her. Thanks for any suggestions.

[Shawna]

Try ignoring the bad and praising the good.

 

First, and I'm sure you know this already, don't put her in a situation where panic completely takes over, uncomfortable is where you want her.

 

What I would suggest is invite a male friend over for the express purpose of working with your dog. Have him just sit and let her be loose in the room but unable to leave. He is to ignore her at first - no looking at her. Then after a short time he can use calming signals.

 

In case you aren't familiar with calming signals they're a natural way dogs can communcate with each other that they don't want to fight (an over simplified definition, but you get the idea). Tell him to yawn, lick his lips, and turn his head and body so that he isn't facing her head on. He isn't to hold a steady gaze at her, but rather look away from her eyes.

 

Any time she shows the slightest inclination to go toward him, PRAISE HER! As soon as she backs away, say nothing. He isn't to say anything to her. Of course you two can talk, otherwise you'll both be bored out of your skulls . In fact you might want to put on a pot of tea, this could take a while depending on your dog.

 

Eventually she should sneak up on him and sniff him. He isn't to touch her at all until she touches him or shows that she might. Then he can try to rub under her neck with his fingers. If she backs away, he doesn't try to continue touching her. She has to take the initiative. Once she gets the idea that it's safe to approach men, you can invite several people over at the same time, men and women, and repeat all the steps.

 

When you have her out on a leash and men approach you do similar things, ignore the fear unless she goes completely snaky throwing herself violently backwards on the leash. If this happens you have to consider her temperament. With some dogs you can lower the tone in your voice and get after them so that they understand that kind of behaviour is unacceptable. With others it's just better to take a few steps back. Whatever you do, DON'T talk to her in ANY kind of a higher toned "oh-my-poor-baby" voice AT ALL or touch her AT ALL when she's acting shy, you'll just encourage the unacceptable behaviour.

 

If you feel comfortable enough, you can even ask the people you meet when you're out walking to try using the calming signals. Most people are willing to if you explain what you're trying to accomplish with your dog. If you aren't comfortable doing that, just ask that they don't try to touch her or look directly at her. This is often enough to help the dog relax.

 

Don't allow any barking (a deep voiced "no" will usually suffice with dogs like this) and make sure you have a collar that won't slip over her head when you're out and yet won't cause more fear by over tightening. I would suggest a martingale type collar. You need to adjust it so that when the collar is pulled tight up under the dogs chin, at the base of the head, the D rings almost touch but not quite. If there is any fear that the nylon will slip, stitch it so you don't end up loosing your dog.

 

I hope this helps.

[Tammy525]

What about having the man listed above also toss out a couple of treats now and then? (not interacting with the dog, just toss out the treat nonchalantly)

[Shawna]

What about having the man listed above also toss out a couple of treats now and then? (not interacting with the dog, just toss out the treat nonchalantly)

While this might work for some dogs that aren't extremely shy, many dogs will not accept treats when they are in a stressful situation. Also the action of tossing a treat can be frightening to a fearful dog. They don't see it as giving of good things, but rather an aggressive movement by the scary person.

 

So...depending on the individual dog it may or may not work; however it's something I wouldn't recommend, at least not at the beginning.

 

If you wanted to use treats, the better option would be to have the person hold the tidbit loosly in their hand and let the dog approach and decide if they wanted to take it. Again, this encourages the dog to take the initiative, which is what we want, rather than the person who is the object of the fear.

[MaggieDog]

I wanted to add that my BC/ACD cross was very similarly undersocialized as a youngster; I adopted her at about 11 mo. When it comes to fearfulness like what you are describing, slow is fast.

 

What Shawna is suggesting is great but going waaaay too fast imo. If it were me I'd do what she described, but over the course of at least 3 or 4 visits with the same person AT LEAST. For Maggie it took abotu 3 *years* to get her to a pretty 'normal dog' state the majority of the time, but it has paid off; she's now a therapy dog and loves people of all types, even kids!

 

Pushing this dog too fast could backfire and create an animal that is even more convinced that guys are 'evil creatures' that should be avoided at all costs.

[Shawna]

Thanks for bringing up the time thing. I hadn't meant for it to sound like one visit would bring the dog around and she'd be ready for a party.

 

Also I wouldn't stick to one particular person when doing the first one on one stuff. I'd ask different friends to come on different days with a day or two in between at first. You know your dog best so you make the call.

 

This method works great for dogs who have never been properly socialized as well as dogs who are products of bad breeding. I have my own fellow here who is a genetic mess. He was so terrified of men that he would throw himself bodily at the end of his leash, scream and pee all over. He can now approach people on his own invite them to play.

 

Of course each dog is an individual and comes around in it's own time and not every one will become a social butterfly; but done right we can sure make their lives better.

[laurie etc]

Originally posted by MaggieDog:

I wanted to add that my BC/ACD cross was very similarly undersocialized as a youngster; I adopted her at about 11 mo. When it comes to fearfulness like what you are describing, slow is fast... For Maggie it took about 3 *years* to get her to a pretty 'normal dog' state the majority of the time, ...

Pushing this dog too fast could backfire and create an animal that is even more convinced that guys are 'evil creatures' that should be avoided at all costs.

I agree- My Cooper came to me at 10 months afraid of everybody (had never been exposed to anyone other than the woman breeder)and was especially terrified by men. Now, at 3 years, she is virtually a normal BC, but still - big men, especially smokers - worry her a lot. Luckily, her reaction has always been to just "become invisible" and ignore men she doesn't know and/or their attempts to pet her. Personally (as a single woman) I think that unless you plan on specifically placing her with a man as a new owner, being leary of strange men may be a good thing...